by Martha Carr
Melting snow in Muncie. Need to share the runoff.
Cankers on the leaves of a stand of oaks in Richmond. Too much stale air. Need the wind to move on through.
Exposed roots on cherry blossom trees in Washington, in need of cover.
A cool thread of energy ran through her head and the back of her neck tingled as her mind became clear. Set an intention. “How about you show me?”
The ground rumbled and Maggie pressed her hand harder, keeping her eyes closed determined to make a bubble. Make some magic. “Wait, wha…” She felt herself falling, a whoosh of air rushing past her, and when her eyes sprang open there was only an inky darkness that made it impossible to see anything. She paddled her feet, trying to find something solid and stretched out her arms, but there was nothing.
She hit solid ground with a thud, jarring her knees and the light grew around her from the ground up, revealing a chamber and tunnels and copper-colored pipes running along the walls. Underneath was a swirl of blue tile, pointing out into the tunnel. “I’m underground! I did it! Not a bubble exactly, but okay. You showed me something, alright.” Her heart was pounding, and she was breathing hard as the realization hit her. “How do I get back out of here? Hello?”
She took a step, testing the ground, still not sure there wasn’t another layer to fall through to an even deeper level. “They could stand to put in an elevator.” The ground held and she walked further, glancing down the different tunnels, picking one. “That is literally a light at the end of a tunnel.” Her voice echoed off the walls and she had to duck down to fit inside the tunnel. She came out the other side, into a much larger area with a mosaic on the floor made out of hundreds of small colored tiles, swirling in different patterns. “Follow the pattern. We’re not in Kansas anymore.” She went down another tunnel and saw two Huldus chatting, about to turn the corner and head straight for her. She ducked into a narrow side room and found herself faced with hundreds and hundreds of vials, all labeled carefully with the name of an herb, a flower, a root or a leaf. Chamomile, Echinacea, Feverfew, Milk Thistle.
She took down Anise Hysop and lifted the glass top, breathing in the smell of licorice. “What is this place?”
“It’s our apothecary.”
Maggie jumped almost knocking over a row of bottles, holding her hands out till they stopped rattling. She turned to find a gnome with a shock of silver hair peering through the glass bottles on another row of open shelves. “I recognize you,” he said. “You’re the Elemental. Bernie and Jack have been talking about you.” He came around the shelves and put out his hand. “I’m Radar, you’re Maggie, right? You made quite an impression on Bernie and he doesn’t take to Peabrains easily. Actually, he doesn’t take to anyone very easily. Is he with you?” Radar came around as Maggie backed toward the doorway.
“I left him in the cafeteria,” she said, lying. Rule number four will have to suck it. “I got lost down here, which way is that?” She wasn’t ready to find help just yet and get out of there.
Radar smiled and walked up beside her, already poking his head out to the right and pointing down the tunnel. “That’s easy to do down here if you aren’t a mechanic. Follow the tile along the floor and stick to the navy-blue pattern. Each color represents a different system. That blue is food supply. It’ll lead you to where we grow things or the vending machines. Hey, that was a Bernie idea!”
“What’s the red tile for?”
“That one is for the engine room and to find the system of the main pipes that keeps things moving for the old ship.” Radar patted the wall. “You know these things weren’t meant to run forever without being serviced. Little tough out here but it’s amazing what the crew has been able to do. Thank goodness we packed for everything before we left! That oil reserve was a lifesaver more than once. The green is for private quarters and the orange is…” He cleared his throat. “Top secret. Has to do with Huldu magic, we don’t really share that one. We have to be careful just how much we share with Peabrains, you understand, right? It’s never gone exactly the way we hoped. We’ve made it a policy to let Peabrains progress with magic at the pace they can handle. Rule number thirty-three. We can only guide.” He smiled nervously at Maggie like he had said too much. She smiled back at him thinking the same.
Maggie heard Huldus coming from the opposite direction and slid out of the room, still waving at Radar as she followed the blue tiles, winding down different tunnels. She came to a crossroads and looked down at the tile, turning toward the orange and looking back over her shoulder. The coast was clear.
She hurried along, touching the wall for balance as she kept her head down, ducking under the perpetually low ceilings. She was determined to see if there was something that could help her take a shortcut and learn magic.
Her hand brushed a pipe, cold to the touch leaving a blue glowing residue on her fingers that she wiped on the wall. It clung to her skin, still glowing as she picked up the pace, searching for an opening to a room or another tunnel.
30
A general broadcast went out, echoing down the tunnel, the message hanging in the air. “Keep an eye out for the lost Elemental, last seen looking for the cafeteria.” It was Radar’s voice with a nervous tremor. “Help her get topside immediately.”
“I think they’re on to you, Parker.” Maggie heard the approach of footsteps and took off at a run, ducking down just in time underneath a large metal pipe. She came to a set of stairs carved into the Earth and leapt down, sliding on the gravel, and losing her balance.
“Oof,” the wind was knocked out of her and she rolled a few feet, dropping down into a room tucked behind a wall. She lay on the ground for a moment, gathering her wits, getting up and brushing off her pants. The orange dirt clung to her everywhere and her hip was sore where she had landed. She lifted her hand to get her hair out of her eyes and lights nearby came on, illuminating first at the floor and gradually working their way up the walls. She moved her arms up and down in large circles and even more lights came on, further lighting the entire room.
Maggie tilted her head back, relieved she was finally in a room where she could stand up straight. The ceiling soared a hundred feet over head and the room stretched out as far as she could see. The entire thing was filled with shelves that stretched toward the top.
The orange tile ran right along the floor, in and out of the shelves. She moved quickly up and down the shelves, looking at the tall ledgers and pulled down one, opening the large book and leaning it on a shelf. Inside was a list of names, a line of numbers under a column marked ‘date’ and an inventory of items under a column marked ‘luggage’. “The original passenger manifest,” she whispered, quickly turning pages. She closed the ledger and carefully maneuvered it back on the shelf, running her hand down each spin, marveling at them. “This is a hall of records.”
The broadcast went out again, bellowing down the hall, Radar sounding even more anxious. She knew her time was running out. She ran down one aisle until she got to a break and turned left, running over two aisles and turned right again.
There were books of every shape and size, all hand sewn. She scanned the titles looking for anything useful that she might be able to take with her and spotted a small book in the ‘E’ section entitled, Basic Elemental Spells, edition MCC. She opened the book and was relieved to see it was in English.
“I think she went this way.” Two gnomes were in the vast room with her, searching for her. She could hear a beeping sound and looked down to see that the blue gunk still on her fingers was keeping time. “It’s a tracking device! I’ve been tagged.” Maggie slid the book under her shirt, tucking it in to the front of her pants and zipping up her jacket. She wove her way around the different aisles, listening to the beeping pick up and eventually came face to face with the two Huldus, their eyes widening as they looked at Maggie, looked at the room she was in, and looked back at Maggie.
“Hi fellahs,” she said, smiling, doing her best to catch them off guard and put them
at ease. She quickly decided to take a lesson from Bernie and just talk to distract them. “I hear you’re looking for me? I got a little lost. It’s really amazing in this place. Have you been through this room? I still haven’t found the cafeteria. What kind of things do gnomes eat? I mean Bernie seems to be willing to eat anything as long as the ingredient list is super long and starts with sugar or palm oil.”
The two gnomes looked at each other again, a look of surprise still planted on their face. Finally, the slightly taller Huldu blinked, gathering his wits and held up a finger. “Wait right here, I’ll be right back. Don’t take your eyes off of her.”
Maggie smiled at the remaining gnome, turning away from him but not moving off the spot where she was standing. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Clear your mind and set an intention. The cool thread of energy returned to her head and she felt the back of her neck tingle. “I can do this,” she whispered, feeling a rush of energy. “Put me back above ground. I want to…”
She felt the same sudden rush and a zip of wind, the rest of her sentence getting swallowed in the darkness.
“Hey!” yelled the gnome, but Maggie was already gone, headed for topside in the blink of an eye.
She pulled her arms in, not sure about the reentry and found herself standing on an unlit trail of the Barton Creek Greenbelt. She recognized the trails from all her days of running and took off in the direction of home. “Next time, I include an address in that intention.” She looked under her shirt to make sure the book was still intact and was secure and kept running. The blue slime on her fingers was still glowing and felt warm to the touch. She stopped long enough to try and rub it off on the grass, but it didn’t work, and the heat only intensified till it was uncomfortable. She tucked her hand in her jacket and kept going, anxious to get home and look at the book. She ran for a mile, easily covering the ground and even enjoying the chance to be along the Green Belt at night under the stars.
Up ahead, she saw flickering lights and slowed down, her instincts as a detective taking over. She realized as she got closer that someone had set fire to the path just ahead, cutting off her way home. She turned to go back and heard someone call her name as the blue glow intensified on her fingers till it felt like they were burning. She blew on her fingers, but nothing changed and looked over her shoulder, realizing the fires were getting closer.
“There she is, grab her!” At the front of the pack was Simon Wesley and standing next to him was Frank Winters, surrounded by four other followers of Simon who were all holding lit torches above their heads.
Maggie had no time to think and reached inside of her jacket for her phone, but it was gone. “Damn, must have fallen out in Huldu land.” Her gun was securely locked away at home. She shook her head, pressing her lips together, willing herself to calm down. You want to win this one, Maggie, you’re going to need to think. No wait, stop thinking. That’s what Bernie meant. Feel your way through.
She let go of analyzing what was in front of her and held her arms out to the side, setting a clear intention. Kick their ass and take that compass back. The rest she left up to the stream of magic to find its way. Don’t tell the magic how to do it, what has to be done. A determined smile crossed her face.
Frank Winters sent out a similar stream of bubbles that had almost strangled Maggie before, this time armored in a shiny metallic coating. They hovered just within feet of Maggie pushing against something but unable to go any further. It was working, she was holding them off. Don’t think, let go.
Simon stopped a few yards from where Maggie stood, a hand on her hip, the other held out in front of her. She recognized the green puffy coat he was wearing and the stream of magic rolling through her head stumbled for a moment. A few of the bubbles pushed forward, throwing Maggie back, her head hitting the ground. She shut her eyes in pain for a moment, but quickly recovered, scrambling back to her feet and setting the same intention, and letting go. She heard her father’s voice echo in her head, momentarily remembering what he sounded like. “You can do this, Maggie.” The bubbles continued to push her backward as Simon and his followers advanced, but she stayed upright and let out a breath, the cold stream crawling through her head. Kick their ass and take that compass back. It was her only thought.
A new string of opaque bubbles flew through the air, aimed at her legs but they passed a certain point and fused together, raining down on the ground into a milky fluid, absorbed by the ground. Maggie raised her hands, feeling the cold extend down her arms as bubbles emerged in her palms, glowing brightly. She remembered her days on the softball team and lobbed them at one of the torchbearers, easily knocking him out, extinguishing his torch.
Simon looked surprised, and then impressed, a small smile coming across his face. She lobbed the second set of bubbles, taking out two more followers, putting out their torches. The path was becoming darker and harder to see. Simon crossed his arms over his chest and muttered words under his breath, too low for Maggie to hear.
He slowly opened his arms as a stream of pulsing blue light swirled in front of him, slowly taking shape as a rope covered in blue thorns. Maggie’s cheek twitched, but she remembered what happened when she lost focus. Let it go, trust in this source. You are the Elemental.
The rope slithered around, circling Maggie, unable to get close enough to whip around her. “Kick their ass and take that compass back,” she whispered, not giving any further instructions. “I am the Elemental.” The rope hesitated, swirling in the middle as Simon worked feverishly, uttering the words over and over again trying to get the spell to work.
Maggie could feel a pressure building in her head and a pain along the back of her neck, but she refused to stop. She held out her hands again, stretched toward Simon and watched as the rope hesitated and then turned, whipping back at him, curling around his leg and yanking, hard. He fell to the ground, startling Frank who froze where he was, unsure what to do next.
“The compass,” whispered Maggie, as the rope curled inside his pocket and deftly picked it out, flinging it through the air to Maggie. It landed in her hand and began to make a whirring noise, the needles spinning as the tiny cogs behind it spun, faster and faster. The round knob on the top of the compass popped open, pushing it up at an angle and small, metallic wings spread out to the sides, fluttering as the compass once again took flight. “I finally have it back.” She felt a strong hum pass up her arm and down her back, into her legs, rattling her teeth.
The needles spun around, faster and faster as one of them settled on Maggie.
Simon pushed himself up on one elbow staring at the compass flying just above Maggie’s hand, his mouth hanging open. Frank Winter went to toss another string of armored bubbles at Maggie, but Simon put out his hand, “No, wait! Let the needles spin.”
Maggie locked eyes with him and realized the secret she was about to let out in the world, lifting her hand and grabbing the compass, not letting it complete the rotation of the needles. Simon looked pained and let his hand drop. “Now, do it!”
Frank unleashed more of the armored bubbles, pelting Maggie’s line of defense. She was growing weaker, unused to having to focus for so long and let the magic work through her. Eventually several of them made their way through and one hit her square in the chest, knocking her to the ground. The compass rolled out of her hand and Simon easily scooped it up.
Behind them, the sound of sirens grew closer as firetrucks arrived at the Greenbelt. Maggie saw her chance and whipped her leg around, knocking Frank off his feet and stopping the barrage. Simon turned and ran, already blowing bubbles, immersing himself in them.
Maggie took off at a run, straight for him but she was too late, passing through the air where he had one stood. She kept on running, deeper into the Greenbelt and cutting back when she was safely around the firetrucks, slowing down as she headed for home. She had held the compass for just a little while, again and realized something. The compass had started to speak. It knew where the other Elementals wer
e hiding, if only she could hold it long enough to find out. “Soon enough.”
31
She ran until she reached her mother’s house and went up the stairs, stopping to grab the key from under the middle pot filled with a cactus. She went down the main hall and out to the back porch to the spot she knew to find her mother. She would be there till the early hours of the morning.
“Mom, what’s the weather been like?”
It was her perpetual opening query at this time of night with her mother. The answer would tell her if a conversation was possible tonight or her mother was already too far along in toasting the moon.
“It’s so pleasant out here. Come sit next to me. The wind has died down and you can hear the coyotes.”
There was still time. Maggie went and sat next to her mother on the Adirondack recliner. Oscar slept on the ground by their feet. Toni looked over at her daughter and took in the remaining blue glow on her fingers and the bruises on her arms. “You’ve been into something. Can I pour you a glass? It’s just wine, no fun additives.”
“Sure, I could use a glass. It’s been an interesting week.”
Toni poured a glass and handed it over to Maggie, taking another longer assessment. She picked up her glass and drained what remained in the bottom. “How much do you know?”
Maggie leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder. She was used to this roundabout way of getting to what mattered. Conversations that mattered always took a little time and patience with her mother. “I have no idea.” She pulled the book out from under her shirt as her mother’s eyes widened in amazement.
